The Royal Navy Rugby Union (RNRU) was formed in 1907 to administer the playing of
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...
in the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
. It fields a representative side that competes in the
Army Navy Match
The Army Navy Match is the annual rugby union match played between the senior XV teams of the Royal Navy and British Army. It marks the culmination of the annual Inter-Services Competition. Although a match was played between the officers of the ...
, although a side representing the Royal Navy predates the formation of the union by at least twenty-eight years. The RNRU also has had a number of international players within its representative squads in all forms of the game. In 2011 the RNRU produced its first women's international as well as providing the captain of England VIIs.
History
At the beginning of the twentieth century, a number of service-based clubs existed but found it hard to gain support from service players, because it was considered necessary to turn out for civilian clubs to get first-class games. However, in 1902 the United Services Recreation Ground began to give financial support to the
United Services Portsmouth Rugby Football Club
United Services Portsmouth RFC is now 140 years old and once featured amongst the top clubs of English rugby. With a proud history and boasting of many former international, county and inter-service players. Currently re-building from the diffi ...
to stimulate interest. The club quickly began performing strongly and gained an excellent reputation and equally strong fixture list. The appeal that had been sent out to all naval players to support Service clubs had worked and a definite movement had been made to induce all officers in the Navy to give up playing for civilian clubs. In November 1907 the press were invited to a luncheon where the formation of the Royal Navy Rugby Union was announced Upon formation the Royal Navy Rugby Union contained many players of international standard. In his book Rugby Football (and how to play it) WJA Davies makes reference to the same point made by Marshall and Tosswill and also makes reference to the formation of the Royal Navy Rugby Union in 1906 however, this chapter contains a number of inaccuracies and it is believed by many that WJA Davies chose the date from the season when the first capped Army Navy match was played, 1906/07. This may have been the source of subsequent confusion as the Royal Navy Rugby Union continued to advertise their formation as 1906 and there were a number of anniversary events over the years, particularly in 2006 when they celebrated their 'centenary' which included a match against the Barbarians FC. A second cause of confusion may have been that the match in February 1907 was a capped game but these caps were awarded retrospectively by the Royal Navy Rugby Union following a meeting held by the Royal Navy Rugby Union in August 1910. In 2006 a project was undertaken to investigate the History of Navy Rugby and this project uncovered the original minutes as well as various press reports detailing the formation of the Union. The project also had access to private correspondence from the time. In March 2018 the RNRU Executive Committee acknowledged that the evidence pointed to a formation date of November 1907 but decided that despite this they would still use 1906
The highlight of the RNRU season is the annual
Army Navy Match
The Army Navy Match is the annual rugby union match played between the senior XV teams of the Royal Navy and British Army. It marks the culmination of the annual Inter-Services Competition. Although a match was played between the officers of the ...
held at
Twickenham
Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...
. The first of these matches took place in 1878 at the
Kennington Oval
The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since it ...
, but it was not until 1907 that the match became an annual fixture as part of the Inter-Service Competition. In 1919, an Inter-Service Championship was arranged by the
Army Rugby Union
The Army Rugby Union (ARU) is the governing body for rugby union in the British Army and a constituent body of the Rugby Football Union (RFU). The ARU was formed on 31 December 1906 and marked the fulfilment of Lieutenant J. E. C. "Birdie" Partr ...
, which included Service teams from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa, as well as a
Royal Air Force Rugby Union team and a British Army team playing under the name 'Mother Country'. The Mother Country and
New Zealand Army reached the final at Twickenham, with New Zealand winning the encounter to lift the King's Cup. In 1920 the Army Navy competition was expanded to include the Royal Air Force.
Aside from the Army-Navy match and the Inter Service Championship the various Navy Representative teams (1st XV, U23, Women and Veterans) play in a number of competitions during the season in both the fifteen and seven aside games. There are three knockout cups run exclusively for the ships of the Fleet (this sentence is no longer valid as the ships no longer play for the max, midi or mini ships cups. These cup competitions were stopped in the early '90s ) and in the middle of December there is the final of the RNRU Knockout Cup, open to all Establishments, Ships and Royal Marine Units.
The Inverdale Trophy (formerly the Blakeney Cup) is named after a past Life Member of the Royal Navy Rugby Union Surg Capt Inverdale RN.
It is competed for annually by the five Commands of the Fleet Air Arm, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Royal Marines and Scotland. The competition has enjoyed many formats and is currently competed for over a week for the right to be called RNRU Command Champions and the opportunity to represent the RNRU at an overseas tournament.
The RNRU is a Constituent Body of the
Rugby Football Union and in honouring its role in the evolution of the game in England it has as a mission statement: "To promote, develop, administer and finance rugby football in the Royal Navy throughout the world in support of the Rugby Football Union". This is achieved by financing coaching seminars and courses; administrating the game, and officiating the games through the provision of referees and touch judges.
Senior XV Cup Competitions
The Royal Navy Rugby Union Senior XV players annually for five cups as well as playing in the triennial Commonwealth Navies Rugby Cup. The longest cup competition is the annual Army Navy match which is held at Twickenham. The Unions first played each other in 1907. The Royal Navy has played the Royal Air Force annually since 1920 which is also the year that the Inter Service Competition was inaugurated. The Royal Navy annually play the Irish Defence Forces and have done since 2002. The final annual cup match is against the French Navy, the Marine Nationale. The first match was played in 2005 and since 2011 the Royal Navy Rugby Union have awarded caps for this fixture.
The Commonwealth Navies Rugby Cup is a triennial competition that was first played in 1997 where it was held in the UK. Since then it has been played in Australia (twice), New Zealand and also South Africa. The Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy have competed in every competition. The Royal New Zealand Navy missed the 2018 competition.
The South African Navy competed in 2006. The Royal Navy won the first 6 tournaments with the loss of only one match, to the Royal New Zealand Navy in the 2006 competition. In 2014 the Royal New Zealand Navy were crowned champions on home soil following a 37–10 win over the Royal Navy and a 26-5 win over their Australian counterparts. The last time the competition was played was in 2018 when it was reduced to a single match between the hosts, Royal Navy, and the Royal Australian Navy, which the RN won.
Women's rugby
![May 2017 in England Rugby JDW 9460-1 (33861416473)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/May_2017_in_England_Rugby_JDW_9460-1_%2833861416473%29.jpg)
The RNRU does field a women's rugby side although in the women’s Inter-Service competition that was introduced in 2003 the Army have been the dominant side winning every title from 2003-2018. In 2019 the RAF Women won the title for the first time.
The Royal Navy Rugby Union started awarding caps from 2011 for the Women's XV with a qualification of six Inter Service matches since 2008, the first player to be awarded a cap under this qualification rule was Vic Percival and at the same match Sophie Roseman, Emma Swinton, Sarah Simms, Sophy Hinds and Pam Williams-Wilson qualified for their first cap.. In 2014 the qualifying criteria were altered and the Women were to be awarded their first cap after four Inter Service matches. The four matches had to be since 2009 and to include an appearance in IS2014 or later. This criterion left a couple of players in the hinterland between the old and the new criteria. After the 2014 match v the Royal Air Force Stacey Hargrave became the first to win her cap under the new criteria. The 2015 match against the Marine National Feminines was the first occasion that this game was considered a capped match. At the Annual General Meeting held in November 2017 the criteria were changed for a second time and the award of the Women's cap was brought in to alignment with the men's game. i.e. if you played in a capped game you received a cap without the requirement for any previous matches played. Like the previous change the amendment was not back dated.
The RN(W) players compete for the Roger Sherratt Trophy which is awarded to the member of the Royal Navy Women's Rugby Union Squad who is deemed to be the most valuable player of the season. This player will have shown strong leadership qualities both on and off the field, have provided a positive influence on the Squad and have displayed the attitude and bearing that epitomises the values of the Royal Navy Women Rugby Union Team.
Caps and Colours
The Royal Navy Rugby Union first awarded caps for players of its Senior XV in their matches against the British Army. When the Royal Air Force formed the Inter Services competition in 1920 the Royal Navy Rugby Union also awarded caps for these matches. At the 2010 Annual General Meeting it was decided to award caps to the Senior XV's match against the French Navy, the Marine Nationale, and also for members of the Royal Navy Rugby Union's Women's team for their matches against the British Army and Royal Air Force.
The Royal Navy Rugby Union also award colours to members of their Referee Society on the first occasion that they either referee or are an assistant referee at a match involving the Senior XVs during the Inter Service competition.
Notable former players
Scotland internationalists
The following former RNRU players have represented
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
at full international level.
*
Bobby Clark
*
Drummond Ford
*
Wilf Crawford
Wilf Crawford (24 August 1915 – 6 June 1993) was a Scotland international rugby union player. He played as a Flanker. He later was a noted horse-racing trainer.
Rugby Union career
Amateur career
Crawford played for the Portsmouth club Uni ...
*
Tremayne Rodd
*
Alec Valentine
*
Alpin Thomson
Alpin Erroll Thomson (14 May 1893 – 6 March 1960) played first-class cricket for Somerset County Cricket Club and the Royal Navy Cricket Club in 1922 and 1923. He also played international rugby union for Scotland. He was born in Perth, W ...
Wales internationalists
The following former RNRU players have represented
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
at full international level.
*
Dave Davies
David Russell Gordon Davies (born 3 February 1947) is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was the lead guitarist and backing vocalist for the English rock band the Kinks, which also featured his elder brother Ray Davies. He was in ...
England internationalists
The following former RNRU players have represented
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
at full international level.
*
Arthur Leyland Harrison
Lieutenant-Commander Arthur Leyland Harrison, VC (3 February 1886 – 23 April 1918) was an English Royal Navy officer, and World War I recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of t ...
*
Cecil Kershaw
Cecil Ashworth Kershaw (3 February 1895 – 1 November 1972) was a British Olympian and England rugby international during the 1920s.
Fencing career
Kershaw was an Olympic fencer who competed for Great Britain at two Olympic Games He was ...
*
Norman Wodehouse
Vice Admiral Norman Atherton Wodehouse (18 May 1887 – 4 July 1941) was a Royal Navy officer killed in the Second World War. He had gained 14 caps for England at rugby union, including six as captain between 1910 and 1913. Wodehouse was actin ...
*
Thomas Woods
Thomas Ernest Woods Jr. (born August 1, 1972) is an American author and libertarian commentator who is currently a senior fellow at the Mises Institute.Naji FilaliInterview with Thomas E. Woods, Jr. Harvard Political Review, August 16, 2011. Wo ...
References
External links
Official websiteArmy Navy Match- Official site
Alligin Photography - largest collection of Navy Rugby Photographs and also some History of Navy Rugby- Very unofficial site
2010 Army v Navy Rugby Match- YouTube
{{Portal, United Kingdom, War
Rugby union governing bodies in England
1906 establishments in the United Kingdom
Military sport in the United Kingdom
Sports organizations established in 1906